Shot from the Stars
by Londonvetgirl25
Summary: See, when most people scare a feral cat away from their own defenseless house cats, they don't expect to find themselves stuck in a forest with said cat expected to save them from mortal peril. Meet Max Grier, high school nerd and, apparently, cat savior. Note to self: make sure the cats you are trying to scare away don't believe in Starclan.
1. Prologue

The night was still young as a dark tabby made his way through the undergrowth. He grumbled around his mouthful of vole as he limped along his way . He was sure that every fox and badger within miles could hear his clumsy gait as he tramped through the gorse. _Stupid-as-mice twolegs with their stupid sharp sticks and their stupid language._ Before he could continue his silent rant, however, the dark-furred cat made his way through a gorse tunnel into a clearing. This clearing was filled with cats, some mingling in the center around the pile of mice, voles and other small animals while others entered and exited various dens lining the clearing.

Just as he deposited his vole in the pile, he heard a gasp. "Dustpelt! What happened?" A gray-flecked apprentice ran up to him, her green eyes clouded with worry.

"Don't worry Fernpaw, I'm okay." He purred, rubbing his chin along the top of her head comfortingly. A large ginger tom who had been lingering by a large rock at the end of the clearing made his way through the crowd to approach the pair. "Dustpelt, what happened to your leg? Is there a fox we need to be worried about?" The concern in his voice reminded Dustpelt why this cat made such a good leader for the clan.

"No foxes, Firestar, but a twoleg. It wasn't like the other ones which just ignore us. This one came after me with a large stringed thing, and when he pulled it, an arrow nearly got me." Listening to the gasps from the surrounding gasps, Dustpelt couldn't help but enjoy the renewed vigor with which Fernpaw had begun grooming him with.

"This is troubling news indeed... Well, you had better go to Cinderpelt with that leg. I'll see to it that the patrols keep a sharp lookout." With a flick of his tail, he gestured to a smoky gray queen with large blue eyes who nodded and disappeared into a den momentarily, returning with leaves held carefully in her mouth. Dustpelt, gratefully began limping his way to her.

* * *

Later that night, when patrols had been sent out, Firestar made his way back to his den, deeply troubled. "Care to talk about it?" A teasing voice called out. Cinderpelt trotted up to him as well as her left hind leg (AN: let me know if this is the wrong leg) would allow. Firestar smiled tiredly, "You know me too well". He flicked his tail, indicating that she should come with him into his den.

Upon entering, Cinderpelt asked, "Is this about Dustpelt's leg?"

"It's not just him, other Clans are reporting similar incidents happening. If it was a fox or badger, we could just chase it out, but how to deal with a twoleg-"

He cut himself off as he noticed Cinderpelt gain a vague, faraway look in her eyes that was all too familiar. "What did they say?" He simply asked.

She answered: **_Only an arrow can hit the heart of this evil._**

* * *

AN: Hello everyone! I have yet another fanfic in the works as you can see (I swear I will finish the others). I just couldn't let this idea go.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Warriors series or any characters in it. I only own the one character who you will meet in the next chapter. Please read and review!


	2. Chapter 1: Meet Max

Disclaimer: I do not own anything or anyone from the Warrior universe (or the Avengers in the case of this chapter). I only own the two twolegs you are about to meet.

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Math is evil. Math was always evil. Math teachers were simply sent from Hell, or as the Avenger's nerd would say, the Dark Dimension. Said nerd, Max Grier, was now running for the bus as his math teacher made him stay behind simply because he hadn't finished the last two problems on his homework. Jerk. Just as Max reached the bus stop, the bus pulled off, the students laughing. Oh well, looks like he was walking home today. At least the weather was nice, seeing as it was the last day of school before the summer holidays.

Max pushed his black bangs out of his eyes, a striking blue he had inherited from both parents and began his walk home. Being of an average build, he never stuck out in a crowd which suited him just fine. People who stuck out often ran into trouble.

"Hey dweeb!" Never mind, trouble just found him. Right as he was about to jog up his driveway, a large red-haired boy with freckles blocked his path. Edward Sinclair, his next door neighbor, was the stereotypical high school bully. With rocks for brains, arms of steel and a tendency to bowl over anyone in his path, Ed was one of the reserve quarterbacks at their high school, Godwin High school while Max himself headed the ultimate frisbee team, putting them in association via athletics as well as location. He was also known for his love of, shall we say, screams of terror. This is why he was never seen as a star quarterback and why most people avoided him.

"What now, Ed?" Max sighed. He was about to start summer and was not in the mood for Ed's antics. Ed snarled and shoved him to the ground, ripping his backpack off in the process.

"I don't like your tone, loser." Upon seeing Max roll his eyes, Ed threw his backpack at him just as he began to pick himself up. Landing back on the ground with the air knocked out of him, Max could only wheeze as Ed loomed over him and sneered.

"Just be careful this summer, Grier. I'll be watching you." With that, he stamped off.

Groaning, Max picked himself up and let himself in. As he set his backpack down, he grinned. He had the whole summer to himself now, what with his parents having left that morning for a 3-month business trip to Europe for his father's job. Max was to remain behind and begin researching potential colleges and filling out application forms. What his parents didn't know was that Max had already done the majority of his search and the associated applications, leaving him with the whole summer to do with as he pleased. Never once having this opportunity in all of his 17 years of life, Max was determined to make the most of it by binge watching all his favorite shows and movies (Avengers for the win!) while eating enough junk food to feed a small nation.

Looking around, he noticed that his cat, Princess wasn't waiting for him on her usual throne of the couch. "Princess" he called out "time for dinner." Peeking out the window to their backyard, he saw his fluffy brown tabby sitting on the fence. He did a double take once he saw that she was not alone but was instead with a large ginger cat. Remembering an incident a few months prior involving a large black cat pinning down a yowling Princess, Max felt he needed to intercede.

"Hey, get out of here!" He yelled. When the ginger tom made no move, he took one of his sneakers off and threw it at the cat. It missed, hitting the fence, but it was enough to shock the cat into an angry yowl and a hasty retreat. Heaving a sigh, Max called out, "Come on Princess, time for dinner." Was it just his imagination, or did the she-cat throw him an angry glare as she stalked into the house?

Feeling a little piqued, Max filled her food and water bowls after retrieving his shoe. "Sorry girl, I just didn't want a repeat of a few months ago." Princess apparently didn't hold grudges for long as she was soon purring and rubbing against him as usual. Max grinned.

"So what movie do you want to watch tonight? Ironman 2 or Dr. Strange?"

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AN: Hello again! Just to let you guys know, I don't actually follow the Avengers, just wanted to use them to help introduce my main character. Anyway please read & review!


	3. Chapter 2: Starclan Intervenes

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or settings from Warriors which belong to the Erin Hunter group. Please read & review!

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Loping his way back to camp, Firestar couldn't help but let out a low growl at the memory of the young twoleg who threw that, that _thing_ at him. There he was, minding his own business as he asked after his sister's wellbeing and telling her about her son when out of nowhere he was attacked. The nerve of it! Shaking off the memory, the Thunderclan leader decided to productively work his annoyance off. They could always use more fresh-kill back at camp after all.

Feeling extremely pleased with himself, Firestar hauled a rabbit through the gorse tunnel. Dropping it off at the fresh kill pile, he trotted over to Sandstorm, who had just returned from a patrol. Before he could start purring to his mate, however, she flashed him a worried look which stopped him in his tracks. "What's the matter?"

"It's Graystripe. He had a near miss with that twoleg that's been causing so much trouble. He's with Cinderpelt." She had hardly finished talking when Firestar whirled around and raced for the medicine den, Sandstorm close behind. He needn't have worried.

"OUCH! Come on Cinderpelt, don't you have anything that stings less?" Graystripe whined as the gray tom tried to hide his fluffy tail from the healing cat. "Oh, hey Firestar! How was hunting?"

"Fine, but I'm more worried about you at the moment. What happened?"

"I had wandered up by the twoleg place earlier after catching your scent around there and was just about to corner this huge vole when this big twoleg came up behind me and- RROWL!" Graystripe screeched as Cinderpelt pinned his tail with her paws and began to spread some salve over what looked like paw-length graze along the tip of his tail.

"Stop squirming, you overgrown kit, so I can treat your tail or I will start calling you Graykit. Now stay still!" Pouting, the large warrior did as he was bid as Firestar and Sandstorm hid a smirk. "You'll be fine in the long run, just take some poppy seeds to deaden the pain for tonight." As the warrior left, he muttered petulantly, "That hurt worse than the twoleg."

Growing serious, Firestar asked, "Have you heard anymore from Starclan?" The medicine cat shook her head and mewed, "I'll let you know the moment I do."

* * *

After doing a quick round of the rest of the camp, Firestar tiredly made his way back to the leader's den with Sandstorm by his side. "Still worried about the twoleg?" the light ginger queen asked. Looking down into her pale green eyes that mirrored his own, the fire-colored tom sighed.

"I just can't think of what to do about this threat and Starclan has been mostly quiet." Seeing his mate's apprehension, he forced himself to relax. "But I am sure we can do something about it." Sandstorm nodded. Firestar had told her the prophecy that had been given to Cinderpelt two nights previously so she assumed that Starclan had a plan and that, as usual, Firestar would see the Clan through the danger.

He and Sandstorm entered his den through the mossy curtain and began to settle themselves. Sandstorm purred, "Maybe it'll just go away like many other twolegs do."

"Or maybe not" A third voice responded. Whipping around, Firestar and Sandstorm saw two queens in the den with them, their fur shimmering with starlight. The one who had spoken was a grey-blue queen with light grey surrounding her muzzle and a scar covering her shoulders, her eyes the color of a moonlit night. The other cat was a dark grey queen with piercing yellow eyes and a flat face.

"Bluestar! Yellowfang! Why are you here?" Never before had either living cat seen members of Starclan come down to meet them so directly.

"To show you the solution to this problem. Follow us." With that, Yellowfang flicked her tail, silently ordering them to follow the celestial warriors out of the camp.

* * *

They made their way through the forest, the darkness helping to conceal even their bright coats. Yellowfang and Bluestar would sit at a spot and wait for them to approach before disappearing then reappearing further ahead. Finally, Firestar could make out a familiar shape ahead.

"Why are we at Princess's fence?" He wondered aloud. Sandstorm's fur was on end, she was not as comfortable as Firestar around twoleg places, especially with recent events. Bluestar and Yellowfang disappeared and reappeared on the windowsill of one of the upper windows and flicked their tails at the duo to get them to follow. As Firestar and Sandstorm leapt onto the fence, a brown blur raced up to meet them. "Firestar! Sandstorm! What are you doing here? Are you alright after what happened earlier?"

"What happened earlier?" Sandstorm growled. Firestar sheepishly looked at his paws as Princess responded. "My twoleg threw something at him."

Firestar was surprised to hear his mate amusedly purr. "What did he do?"

"What on earth is that supposed to-" Firestar began to heatedly protest but was stopped by an imperious yowl from the windowsill. Looking up at the window, Princess's fur bristled with fear. "Who are they? And what are they doing here?"

Firestar began to soothe his sister, "They are former leaders of my Clan. But I do not know why they- and we- are here. Can you get us up to that window?"

She hesitated. "Well yes. Just follow me." The brown tabby led the two warriors through her kittypet domain, entering a large room at the back of which was a set of wooden stairs leading to an upper floor. Just as Firestar began to climb them, he glanced back and saw Sandstorm was frozen at the bottom.

"What's wrong?" He hissed. "What in the name of Starclan is this?" She hissed back. Comfortingly he purred to her.

"These are stairs. Twolegs use them to climb to higher places. You just have to walk up them, like climbing a hill." Swallowing back her apprehension, she let out a low growl then scurried up the stairs, leaving her mate to follow behind, hiding his laughter. He must not have done a good job of it though because as he reached her, she smacked him with her tail across the shoulders. Wincing, he caught up to his sister who had silently watched. Princess then led them to a room down the hallway where the door was open.

Bluestar and Yellowfang were already there, sitting on what Firestar remembered to be a twoleg nest. He jumped up on another structure, a chair if he remembered correctly, followed closely by his sister and mate. Once the living cats were settled, the two Starclan warriors turned their attention to the occupant of the nest.

* * *

AN: So let's see what our beloved members of Starclan have in store for Max.


	4. Chapter 3: Of missions and perspectives

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the Warriors universe.

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So far, Max had had a very nice first night of summer. He and Princess had watched Dr. Strange then Ironman 1 and 2 while he munched on a pepperoni pizza he had ordered for himself, had a quick call with his girlfriend Bree who was out of town for the weekend for a singing competition, and finished it off with some ice cream.

Finally at around 11:00 he had called it a night as it had been a long school day. After a quick shower and changing into a T-shirt and boxers, he got into bed. Just before nodding off, he realized that he had left the cat door downstairs unlocked, but shrugged it off as the weather was nice and he wasn't too worried about anything coming in to bother Princess.

* * *

He had just settled down into a deep, comfortable sleep when suddenly, sharp pain blossomed along the side of his face. Jerking awake, he looked around, expecting to see Princess sitting on his bed as she had smacked him awake in the past. But it wasn't Princess.

Two cats he had never seen before sat on his bed, watching him. Jerking back, he quickly turned on his bedside lamp on to get a better look. One of the cats seemed to have dark blue fur while the other, the one he guessed had smacked him with its claws, had smoky grey fur. The weirdest thing about these cats, though, was the way their fur seemed to shimmer and their eyes seemed to glow.

"Hey, get out of here, go on!" Max yelled, thinking he could scare them into running back out of the house. Instead, the bluish cat simply growled at him. "Enough!" Completely flabbergasted, Max just sat there and stared at the two cats. "D-Did you just-?"

"Yes, we talk, get over it" hissed the grey one, both their voices seeming female. The blue one smoothly stepped between them. "Listen to me very carefully, twoleg. You are needed."

"For what?" Max enquired cautiously. "For the Clans" the bluish cat replied simply.

At that moment, light began to emanate from both cats, emerging as sparkles that began to whirl around Max, preventing him from moving away. Raising his hands to shield his eyes, he saw that they _had begun to change shape_. They shrank in on themselves, forming small paws. "Wh-What the hell?" He could feel the rest of his body shifting painlessly as bones were reshaped, organs moved and hair sprouted. He saw the world around him, including the two cats, grow immensely, until he was eye-level with their chests. Finally the lights stopped and all was still.

Max stumbled clumsily away from the two- whatever the hell they really were- and hit the headboard of his bed. Looking over at a floor-length mirror on his closet door, he froze. Staring back at him on his bed was not Max Grier, the _human_ high school junior, but instead a small silver tabby with black marbling and wide blue eyes. A long silver and black striped tail waved behind him, and at the sight (and sensation) of it, the newly made cat finally moved.

"What the F*** DID YOU DO TO ME?!" He screeched.

"You are needed, twoleg, _**to defeat an evil that can only be stopped by an arrow**_." Bluestar replied sternly.

"Whatever. But why me? And why is my voice so bloody high?" Max demanded, beginning to hyperventilate.

"Because you are the only one who can face this danger. You can also think of it as punishment for almost sending Firestar into next year with that shoe of yours." The darker cat smirked (at least he thought it did, he didn't really understand cat expressions despite growing up with Princess). "Besides, you can enjoy the wonders of being young again this way."

"Who? And wait, you TURNED ME INTO A BLOODY KITTEN?!"

* * *

Firestar had watched with Princess and Sandstorm as he watched Starclan perform a feat that no cat had even thought of. It was amazing enough that they had understood what it was saying to Bluestar and Yellowfang, but really? A twoleg into a cat? A kitten? And why did it have to be THIS twoleg? Upon hearing his name from Yellowfang, the ginger tom shook himself out of his stupor and jumped up to where the kit was still panicking. At the sight of him, the former twoleg moaned.

"You were that cat earlier with Princess!" At this point, the kit scrambled so far towards the edge of the bed that he fell off. Peering down, Firestar saw that the youngster had nearly knocked himself out. A glance back up showed that the Starclan warriors had vanished. So, onto the newest problem.

He deftly jumped down next to the silver kit and hissed "Nice going, _Max_." Still dazed, Max responded "You also talk." (AN: If anyone can guess the reference then they get brownie points from me).

Rolling his eyes, he grabbed Max by the scruff without bothering to reply to that ridiculously obvious statement and started to leave.

"Wait a minute, what are you doing?" Princess and Sandstorm rushed over to him, having recovered from their own shock.

"We have to take him back with us, Sandstorm. You heard what Bluestar said- the Clan needs him."

Princess stepped forward. "Look, I don't know about all this Starclan business but he's a twoleg."

"Not right now he's not. Princess, I'll see you later." With that Firestar rushed off with his unwanted load before she could continue the argument. Before Sandstorm could follow him, Princess blocked her with her tail.

"Please, promise me you'll look out for him." The house-cat pleaded. Sandstorm could see the fear in her eyes and found herself oddly touched by it. She also remembered how she had welcomed- or rather hadn't- Firestar and was resolved not to make the same mistake as last time. Silently she nodded. With a relieved look, Princess removed her tail and Sandstorm sprinted off into the night.

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AN: Sorry if some of the characters seem OOC. Anyway please read and review!

Update: If you want a better idea of what Max looks like as a cat you can see the drawing of him done by PureSpiritFlower on Deviantart: purespiritflower/art/Arrowpaw-800772773


	5. Chapter 4: Meeting the Clan

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Warriors universe

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Just as Firestar leapt down from the fence, Max regained awareness of his surroundings. Panicked, he began thrashing wildly until the larger male dropped him on his newly tailed rump. Looking around, he saw they were in the middle of the woods, far away from everything he was familiar with. He also noticed that, despite the darkness, he could still pick out every detail of the trees around him.

"Where are we?"

Firestar observed him, absently noting how the stripes around his shoulders formed an arrow on both sides. He began to circle the kitten, capturing his full attention. "We are close to camp, but before we continue, I wanted to make a few things clear. First, you are a cat now-"

"Nah, I really hadn't noticed" Max snarked back. "Meaning" Firestar went on, ignoring him, "that you will be expected to treat every cat with respect. We are not soft kittypets that pander to twoleg whims. Next, you will follow the Warrior code during your time with us."

"Wait" Max interrupted, "why _did_ you kidnap (or wait, was it _kitnap_ now?) me?"

"Were you not listening?" The ginger tom demanded.

"I was a little busy being turned into a Godforsaken cat and being kitnapped." Max mewed sharply.

Just as Firestar began to bristle at the kit's insolence, the lighter cat (Max was fairly sure was female) stepped between them.

"What he means" the cat began, its' voice somehow feminine "is that Starclan, the ones who...changed... you said that we, the Clan, need you though we don't know why yet."

"But honestly ma'am, why should I help you? What's stopping me from going back and just trying to make it as a house cat?" Max challenged (though the idea really didn't appeal to him, he just wanted to go back to being human). Since she had given a relatively straightforward answer, he had tried to be polite by adding in the "ma'am". But this proved to be a mistake.

Now the tan cat also began to bristle "I don't know what "ma'am" is. The name's Sandstorm. I think I heard Starclan say something about you owing it Firestar for throwing something at him earlier. But hey, if you really don't want to help, you can try and make your way back by yourself through the woods. Let's see how far you get. And even if you do make it back, you'd be stuck as a cat since Starclan probably won't turn you back until you've fulfilled your calling."

Looking at the ominous trees looming above him (God, cats really were small, weren't they?) and realizing he had no idea where he was, Max pouted. "Fine. I'll go with you guys. But this isn't permanent!" He mewed petulantly. He made to stand up and look tough doing it, but he ended up just flopping on his face. As he struggled off his face, he could hear the other two cats purring, he guessed from amusement. "You really are like a kit." Firestar snickered, momentarily reminded of his nephew at a much younger age.

"You'll have to get up first if you want to make it to camp. We're not carrying you any further." Sandstorm chuckled.

"Right, first lesson- walking." Firestar began the lesson briskly. "Just move one leg at a time. Start with your right hind foot then your left hind, then move your forelegs in a similar manner."

Despite his earlier annoyance, he came up alongside Max to let the smaller male lean up against him as he found his feet and wobbily made his way forward. Sandstorm watched silently from the side. "Good" she meowed as Max's walking became steady. "We should probably continue onto camp."

* * *

The two feline warriors made their way through the gorse tunnel, their unwitting responsibility struggling to keep up behind them. A gasp had them turn around. Max was giving the entire place a wide-eyed stare- especially at all the cats staring back at him.

"Graystripe! Cinderpelt" Two gray cats trotted up to them, one darker and with a limp. "Come with me, we have something to discuss. Max, just stay here."

Firestar led the three cats to his den. Once all four cats had entered, Graystripe asked, "Who is the stranger?"

The Thunderclan leader sighed. "You're not going to believe me."

"Try us" Cinderpelt mewed. So both Firestar and Sandstorm recounted the events of the last few hours, beginning with the appearance of Yellowfang and Bluestar in the den up to their entrance back in camp. At a specific part of it, Firestar's deputy yowled "WHAT DO YOU MEAN STARCLAN TURNED A TWOLEG INTO A CAT?" The medicine cat shushed him and flicked her tail for the leader to continue. Once he had finished, he regarded his deputy and healing cat. Graystripe still looked overwhelmed. Cinderpelt, on the other paw, looked calm. Noticing this, Firestar stated, "You had another message from Starclan, didn't you?"

Smugly, Cinderpelt nodded. "Well, it looks like we've got our work cut out for us. He is also, most likely, the answer to the prophecy given earlier." Everyone nodded, including Graystripe who had been let in on the secret.

"Do you think we should tell the rest of the Clan?" Firestar asked. Sandstorm surprised everyone by mewing quietly. "Yes." After a moment, Cinderpelt and Graystripe nodded.

Cinderpelt noted, "He probably doesn't know anything about being a cat. It may show in ways that would be hard to explain away."

Firestar let out an amused purr. "I had to show him how to walk on four legs on the way here."

"It should be easier than what he's used to. I'll never understand how they balance on only two legs." Graystripe mewed.

"Alright, that's settled." Firestar meowed with finality in his voice, leading the way out of his den. "I'll call the Clan now and tell them."

"You may not have to." Sandstorm noted. The others saw the rest of the Clan staring at Max with wide eyes, not daring to approach him. Dustpelt rushed up to the group and mewed, "We heard Graystripe. Is it true? This _kit_ is a twoleg?"

With a quick glare at a very sheepish Graystripe, Firestar leapt atop the highstone and yowled.

* * *

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath the Highrock for a Clan Meeting." Firestar's voice rang out across the clearing. Max saw one of the gray cats, probably the one who had yelled for the whole world to hear that he had been a human, or a twoleg as the cats seemed to call people. Giving him a wide berth, cats emerged from dens and other areas of the clearing to sit beneath the tall rock Firestar sat on.

"Cats of Thunderclan" Firestar announced "it is indeed true that we have a newcomer amongst us. It is also true that he was a twoleg, but by the will of Starclan is now a cat." Murmurs and hisses broke out amongst the gathered cats. "He will stay here and learn the ways of the Warrior Code as a member of the clan." It seemed the Firestar was the leader of this bunch.

"Hang on" a voice caterwauled over the murmuring. A large brown tabby emerged from the crowd. "If he is a twoleg, how do we know that he isn't the twoleg who has been causing all the problems lately?"

Max was mystified. What problems? Is this what those weird magic cats had been referring to? "No Dustpelt, I do not believe he is the same twoleg. Otherwise, why would Starclan send him to us?"

"But, regardless, what are we supposed to do with him? There is little enough food for the Clan and having to waste it on-"

"That is enough Dustpelt! My decision is final. He shall train as an apprentice to better learn our ways" Firestar cut him off sternly. In actuality, he hadn't considered the possibility. A visit to Princess again to get a better idea of who they were sheltering may well be in order.

Meanwhile, Max was apprehensive. An apprenticeship? For what, learning how to groom yourself? Though in retrospect Max that he may actually need that lesson.

Firestar flicked his tail. When all he got from the new cat was a blank stare, he sighed. "Max, come forth."

Nervously, the former human obeyed. "From this day forward until he has earned his warrior name, he will be known as Arrowpaw. As he is a different case, he shall have two mentors: Graystripe and myself."

Woah, woah, woah! A name change? Where was the warning? Arrowpaw- no Max he firmly reminded himself- was then startled by voices calling around his new name around them. Dustpelt and several others remained silent. Firestar and Graystripe leapt down which seemed to signal the end of the meeting. He started from his thoughts as Firestar addressed him.

"The apprentice's den is over by that oak tree and where you will be sleeping until you receive your warrior name. Or until you go back, whichever happens first"

Suddenly, the events of the night washed over the former human and he could only nod numbly at the ginger cat. He didn't even remember stumbling into said den and curling into a ball.

 _Well, looks like my summer plans have flown out the window_ he thought as he drifted off to sleep.

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AN: Welp, looks like Max is officially an apprentice! Stay tuned to see how Arrowpaw will deal with apprenticeship (and with being a cat for that matter). Please read & review


	6. Chapter 5: How to be feline 101

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Warrior series.

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Arrowpaw began to wake up slowly. He tried to ignore the weird sensation of something moving on his head. "Ugh, Bree why is it so bright? I had the weirdest dream last night where there were talking cats and I shrunk-" He groaned, sitting up then freezing. It wasn't his girlfriend who often came over early to wake him up. Instead, a large gray cat with long fur was standing over him with a questioning look.

With a screech, he scrambled backward. Then the events of the previous night rushed through his mind and he remembered he was no longer human. _For now,_ he insisted silently and forced himself to relax . He realized two things- first that the weird sensation on the top of his head was the feeling of his now pointed ears unconsciously swiveling to listen to his surroundings and second that he kept referring to himself as Arrowpaw even though he was Max. He wasn't sure why this was, maybe something those magic, species-changing cats did last night.

The older cat simply watched as the newest Clan member calmed down. He estimated the cat to be about eight moons old. Luckily, the apprentice's den was otherwise empty so no one else was bothered by the racket. He cheerfully remarked, "What an interesting dream that must have been! Sorry to tell you that it really happened."

As Arrowpaw groused, Graystripe mewed, "Come on twolegger, it's time for training. Follow me."

Arrowpaw grumpily followed Graystripe out of the den to the center of the clearing. He saw that he had been led to a large pile of small animal corpses. "Get some fresh-kill, you'll need to be fit for today." With that, Graystripe sauntered off to the base of the Highrock. Arrowpaw gulped. Although the thought grossed him out, he forced himself to gingerly pick up a mouse in his mouse. He knew that starving himself would do no good and forced himself to take a small bite. His eyes widened in surprise. It was actually good! It reminded him of the time he had had a filet mignon when his parents had taken him out to celebrate his birthday. His hunger catching up to him, he quickly devoured it.

Looking up, he noticed he wasn't alone. Two cats that looked to be about his age were staring at him. While both were gray, one had blue eyes while the other had light green eyes. "Um, hi?" He mewed cautiously. The green-eyed one started at the sound of his voice, then launched into speech.

"Hi, I'm Fernpaw! Is it true you were a twoleg? What's it like being a twoleg? How did you become a cat? Oh my gosh, you must have so many questions..." Intimidated by the she-cat's sudden stream of questions, Arrowpaw backed up a step. The blue-eyed cat (he supposed the two were siblings), stepped in.

"You'll have to forgive Fernpaw, she gets excited. I'm Ashpaw. You're Arrowpaw, right?" Watching the grey cat lick his paw and then brush his face with it, Arrowpaw quickly, if clumsily, copied him, sure his own face was probably covered with mouse blood.

Just as he mutely nodded after cleaning his face, Firestar and Graystripe padded up to him. "Have you eaten? Good. Let's go."

As he got up to follow them, Fernpaw cheerfully called out. "We'll talk more later!" As he looked back, he saw Dustpelt give the young green-eyed cat what he thought to be a disapproving look.

* * *

Firestar was glad to see some of the cats start to accept the young twoleg-turned-cat but he still wasn't sure about the newcomer himself. Shaking himself out of these thoughts, he led them to the training hollow, a sand-filled hollow where young cats were often taught basic fighting skills. He figured it would also be helpful in helping the youngster out with movements most cats learned while still in the nursery.

Arrowpaw was fascinated by his surroundings. Where did all the sand come from? He was interrupted from his observations by Graystripe calling out to him.

"Right, let's test your speed first." Arrowpaw felt a smirk crawl across his new muzzle. He was the fastest runner on the ultimate frisbee team at school, mainly due to having to spend many a summer's day running from his favorite neighbor. He would enjoy showing them the meaning of the word _speed_. However, the smirk soon vanished. As he leapt forward, his back feet got tangled with his front and he ended up tumbling head over tail into the base of one of the surrounding oak trees. _I didn't think there would be so many stars in the sky at this time of morning_ he thought giddily, still splayed at the base of the tree.

While Graystripe tried (and miserably failed) to hide his amused purring, Firestar sighed. "This is going to take awhile..." Almost no one noticed the tan cat sitting in the shadow of the surrounding trees, observing the lessons intently.

After prying the stunned cat from the tree base, they taught him to run properly "Because if you can't run then how in the name of Starclan are you ever going to get anywhere?" as Graystripe aptly pointed out. From there they moved on to other movements such as jumping, leaping and crouching. Crouching was very interesting for Arrowpaw as the first time he attempted it, he unconsciously clenched his forepaws, causing his jet black, razor-sharp claws to pop out on full display. It took Firestar whacking him on the head with his own sheathed paw to get him to stop admiring his new weaponry.

 _This is just like the Black Panther!_ The nerd inside Arrowpaw was in fan-boy nirvana at this thought.

By sunset, Arrowpaw was completely worn out an internally praying that they were almost done. Apparently, someone above heard him because Firestar mewed "You look about done in. Go with Graystripe and get some fresh-kill." He then murmured something to the large gray cat before bounding off into the woods. As Graystripe made to leave, Arrowpaw quickly caught up with him.

"So, I guess you are sort of like the second-in-command?" He asked. Not expecting the question, Graystripe cautiously nodded. "And Firestar is the...Chief?"

"The leader, yes.

"And you call yourselves 'warriors', right?"

"Why the interest?"

Arrowpaw found his new whiskers twitching with annoyance. "Well, I just wanted to understand this whole Clan business better, since it looks like I may be here awhile. I honestly thought you guys just laid around all day."

Graystripe stared at him and burst out into laughter, a strange sound coming from a cat. When he finally calmed down, he managed to choke out "You twolegs really don't know anything, do you? Come on, I'll fill you in on the way back."

* * *

By the time they reached camp, Graystripe had filled him in on the hierarchy of the Clan as well as their activities of the warriors such as hunting and running patrols. _Why would they need to run patrols?_ Arrowpaw wondered, but the deputy had gone to report to Firestar.

Making his way to the fresh kill pile, he selected a vole this time and munched it down, so busy mulling over what he had just learned about this group of cats, apparently called ThunderClan that he barely noticed the taste. "How is it going?" A chipper voice suddenly sounded next to him causing him to leap in the air. Fernpaw and Ashpaw were sitting next to him, mostly-eaten mice nearby.

"Jesus, you scared me!" He yowled. Fernpaw looked inquisitive. "Who is Jesus? But anyway, sorry for scaring you! Would you like a tour of the camp?"

He brightened. "Sure!"

The two apprentices led him to a fallen tree where four older looking cats waited, looking at him intently as they nibbled at prey gathered in front of him. Two were gray ( _Why are there so many gray cats?_ he wondered crossly as he realized he would need to keep everyone straight), one a tortoiseshell and one a light ginger tabby. Ashpaw came forward and gestured to each cat in order with his tail. "Right Arrowpaw, these are Smallear, One-eye, Dappletail and Speckletail."

"So, you are the twolegger." Speckletail stated pensively. Before he could respond, Smallear snapped. "This is a bad omen. Starclan must be angry with the clan to send a twolegger."

"Calm down, Smallear." Dappletail meowed. "It is not for us to decide the intent of Starclan." She turned her attention back to the younger cats. "Welcome to ThunderClan, Arrowpaw. I look forward to watching your progress."

"Th-thanks." He mewed stiffly. He made a mental note to avoid this bunch as much as possible.

From the elders den, the odd group made their way to the nursery. On the way, Fernpaw pointed out the warrior's den, a large bush near the Highrock with a hollow center. At the nursery, a silver furred she-cat greeted them briefly before returning inside to the sound of kits inside. At this point, he couldn't withhold his yawn. Looking over, he saw that the other apprentices looked just as exhausted and they all returned to the apprentice's den and, after Ashpaw showed him how to set of a bed of moss (he had been too tired the previous night to notice) before they all fell into an exhausted sleep.


	7. Chapter 6: Hunting and Flying

The dawn was bright on Arrowpaw's second day with the Clan. This time he rose and made his way out of the den quietly. Once in the sunlight he paused and stretched his furry limbs, quietly relishing their strength and flexibility. He still longed to be human again, but once past the initial shock, he could begin to appreciate the advantages of his feline body. Before he could continue his internal monologue, a voice called out. "Having a nice morning?"

Dustpelt, the dark tabby who had been vocal about his disapproval of yours truly from joining ThunderClan, sauntered over. "Um, yes...?" Arrowpaw responded, not quite sure where this conversation was headed.

"Would you like to keep it nice?" Dustpelt's eyes were gleaming with false sweetness.

"Yes...?"

The dark tabby suddenly got in his face. "Then stay away from Fernpaw. I don't want to see you look or even _breathe_ in her direction. Are we clear, twoleg?"

The striped apprentice nodded swiftly, leaving Dustpelt to snort contemptuously before heading over to the other apprentice in question, stopping her mid-journey to join Arrowpaw. Glumly, he made his way over to the fresh-kill pile for breakfast. The encounter with Dustpelt had reminded him of when Bree's father tried to intimidate him before their first date. _Bree...I wonder what she's doing now._ To keep his mind off of his red-haired, green-eyed fiery girlfriend, he tried a rabbit from the pile and focused instead on the taste.

* * *

"Today is the day you begin to earn your keep." Graystripe announced. He had taken Arrowpaw out of camp into the woods. The younger cat could hear the sound of a mumbling stream nearby.

"Oh, and how's that?" Arrowpaw drawled, annoyed. It wasn't his fault he had to be with the Clan in the first place, after all. The older cat smirked.

"By hunting for the Clan. One of the first and most important rules of the Warrior Code is to provide freshkill for the Clan before feeding yourself. So you aren't eating again until you have caught at least one piece of freshkill for the Clan."

"But that's not fair!" yowled Arrowpaw.

"I think you know at this point that life isn't, apprentice, but in this case it is. We have been feeding you and now it is time to repay the favor. Come on, let's start with the basics. The deputy then gave detailed instructions on various crouching positions for catching different prey. After most of the morning had passed, Graystripe finally stopped the show and tell. "Now, find go some freshkill."

Arrowpaw was about to protest again about how on earth was he supposed to find it when the sound of leaves rustling caused his ears to swivel backwards. Turning around, instincts simply took over. He opened his mouth to better to pinpoint the creature, a mouse darting beneath the foliage. Having his prey in his sights, he stalked forward, paws not making a sound as they lightly treaded the earth. Then he crouched, preparing to spring. And spring he did. Catching the mouse, he quickly and cleanly broke its neck.

"Excellent!" A voice crowed behind him. Graystripe watched proudly as the former twoleg brought the mouse over. "Your crouch is a little lopsided but that will go away with practice. Well done, indeed. Alright, bring that back to the freshkill pile then you can go hunt for yourself. I'll keep watching your technique."

As Arrowpaw did as he was instructed, he wondered about his hunt. While he surmised that the instinctual part must have come as part of his transformation, he was a little worried about how easily he was able to do it. Then he shook it off. Gotta eat to live and as long as he kept his kills quick and clean, then there shouldn't be any problem.

After he dropped the mouse off, he raced back to the clearing they had been at earlier to find himself some prey. He had gotten hungry quickly. And he was in luck. This time a vole was crawling through the undergrowth, through a tight grove of trees. As he had last time, he stalked then pounced, quickly killing his prey. But as he began to take his prey back into the clearing, something tugged his tail. The next thing he knew, he was flying. He shot out of the grove and was sent soaring through the air, yowling the whole way, only to land in the stream.

 _Man it sucks to get wet. Oh right, cats hate getting wet._ He groused as he realized what happened. Basically, his tail had gotten snagged on a tree branch during his pounce and when he pulled against it, was sent for feline flying lessons 101. He silently prayed no one had seen him. His hopes were quashed as Graystripe's howling laughter filled the air.

"That's a new one. First you get turned into a cat, then you learn to fly. What's next, growing wings?" Overcome with his own comedic wit, the deputy had to lean against a nearby tree as he continued to shake with laughter. The apprentice growled and shook himself. The end result left him looking like a cotton ball, leading Graystripe, who had been recovering, to start howling again. Gathering his wounded ego, Arrowpaw left the clearing with his vole and headed back to camp. In his embarrassment, he didn't catch the sight of two ginger cats watching him, the lighter one shaking with laughter while the flame-colored cat tried not to smirk.

* * *

Firestar had watched Dustpelt intimidate Arrowpaw at dawn and shook his head. Sometimes, he felt Dustpelt would never respect his decisions. He put Dustpelt out of his mind for now. He needed to see his sister. As he left camp, he noticed Sandstorm shadowing his deputy and the twoleg at a distance and decided to ask her about it later.

Once he had reached Princess's fence, he was about to call for her when he heard "Oh thank goodness."

Looking up, he saw his sister on top of the fence, waiting for him. Jumping up, she anxiously asked, "Is Max alright? What about Cloudtail?"

"Both of them are fine, Princess, but I am here about Arr- I mean, Max. What is this twoleg like?" Firestar enquired. He had to know if he had just introduced danger into his Clan.

"Well, he seems to be good for a twoleg. He makes sure I'm fed and spends time with me, why?"

"He _did_ throw something at me, whatever it was. Does he ever shoot arrows?" Perplexed, the queen shook her head. "He only threw that thing at you because of what happened a while ago."

At his inquisitive look, Princess looked uncomfortable. "That's a long story."

"I have time. What happened?"

"I was out here in the back garden one day a few moons ago when one of those rogue cats you warned me about jumped on me out of nowhere." A prickle of fear traveled down the wild cat's spine. He didn't like where this might be headed. Oblivious, Princess continued. "He had pinned me down and was talking about the strong kits I could give him, but just as I got too tired to fight back, Max threw something at the rogue and chased him out. I haven't seen him since."

"By Starclan, Princess, I am so sorry-" She cut him off. "No harm was done that day but that was because of Max. That is why I'm begging you to look out for him until he can come home." He couldn't say no to those pleading eyes. "Of course I will."

He told her some more about Cloudtail and how he was enjoying life with Brightheart, making Princess perk up quite a bit. As he was about to jump down, something occurred to him.

"Princess, do you need some fresh kill? I can get you some before you go, since Max isn't here." His sister surprised him by responding, "That's quite alright, I can hunt for myself and Max's mate feeds me."

Hiding his surprise at this last revelation, he rubbed her shoulder with his muzzle and hurried off to the forest. He scented his mate nearby and found her sitting on a log, looking down on the clearing where Graystripe was teaching Max- no Arrowpaw- to hunt. Without turning around, Sandstorm asked, "So how is your sister?"

He purred. "You know me so well. She's fine. I just wanted-" He was interrupted. "You just wanted to learn more about Arrowpaw, yes?" Sheepishly he nodded.

"And what did you learn?" He relayed the story Princess had told him about the rogue. Shaking her head, Sandstorm noted, "You may want to send some patrols in that direction then." Just as he was about to agree with her, a familiar black and white striped cat suddenly went flying through the air and landed in the stream. Looking over, they saw an irate apprentice and a howling deputy. Her shoulders shaking, Sandstorm managed to gasp out "Well, whatever he is, he's certainly entertaining!"

"Graystripe shouldn't be making so much noise though." Firestar noted. "Oh stop, I can see you smirking too." Sandstorm retorted.

Her mate chuckled. "Fine, it was funny."


	8. Chapter 7: The threat

Hello, I have managed to get a bit of writing time this weekend so here is the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or settings from the Warriors series which belongs to Erin Hunter. I just own Arrowpaw and Ed and Bree and lots of student debt.

* * *

Arrowpaw made his way back to camp, shivering. That stream was freaking cold! At least he had some food to show for it. Just as he settled down near the apprentice's den to enjoy the fruits of his labor (or meat in this case) and take a bite, a gray paw lightly rested on top of the vole. Looking up, he found the dark gray cat Firestar and Graystripe had been talking to the night of his arrival. Cinderbell or something like that, right?

She looked amused. "If you don't want to spend the rest of your time here sniffling, you might want to come over to the medicine den. Feel free to bring the vole."

Bemused, he followed her as she limped away. What medicine would these cats have? He figured that they would pretty much just fend for themselves and hope for the best with any illness. Peering into the brambles, he was surprised to find neat piles of leaves and berries along with tidy nests he assumed were in preparation for any sick or injured cats. The queen motioned him towards an empty nest. He was so intent on finishing his vole that he was slightly startled when she pushed a small pile of white and purple flowers towards him. "Some feverfew" gesturing towards the white flowers "and catmint" indicating the purple flowers "to help prevent fever and get rid of your chills."

She watched him intently, prompting him to eat the flowers quickly. It reminded him of his mom chasing him around the house as a small kid with cough medicine. Once he finished, he made to leave. "You know, it will get easier." The medicine cat's voice meowed quietly behind him. Turning around, he saw the kindly cat had a gentle smile. "Life has a way of keeping you on your toes. Even when you trip, there is always a way to get right back up."

"Even once you changed species?" He couldn't help but snark. At moments it was all he could do from letting his fear and homesickness overwhelm him. At moments like this, being snarky really helped cover his true despair up.

"Even then." She responded gently. "I find it helps to find and remember your purpose. Starclan sent you here, right?"

He nodded. "Then keep an eye open for your purpose and everything else will fall in place."

Before he could respond, Fernpaw burst in.

"Why are you in here? And why is everyone laughing about how you fell in a river?"

"WHAT?!"

The medicine cat began to chuckle leading Fernpaw to sheepishly look over. "Oh, hi Cinderpelt, I didn't mean to just run in."

"Don't worry, you weren't interrupting anything. Arrowpaw here was just leaving. I'm sure he'd love to tell you all about it." With a mischievous wink, Cinderpelt ushered the two younger cats out.

* * *

Before Arrowpaw knew it, a week had rolled by. The realization struck him just as Firestar was leading him out of camp along with Dustpelt (oh joy) and Fernpaw. As they walked, Fernpaw nattered away at him. Mostly questioning what it was like to be a twoleg. For instance, how did twolegs get around on only two legs, wouldn't it be hard to balance? Or, his personal favorite, what was that weird caterwauling noise they sometimes made? When he asked her to clarify, she attempted such a bad attempt at singing that he burst out laughing. Both older cats, who had been walking ahead, whipped their heads around, eyes narrowed as Arrowpaw struggled to calm himself.

Dustpelt hissed at him. "Do you want to scare all the fresh kill away?" Still snickering, the former twoleg managed to rein himself in. Looking over at Fernpaw, who looked befuddled, he mewed "I'll explain later."

Firestar broke in. "Right, let's start. Today, you two will be assessed on your skills thus far. Fernpaw, you will make your way towards Fourtrees. Arrowpaw, head towards the twoleg place. Catch as much freshkill as you can and remember, we will be watching."

With that, both older cats seemingly vanished. _Damn, it's scary how quick they can vamoose!_ Arrowpaw thought to himself. With a shake, he made his way back towards the twoleg houses. _Home_ a small part of him insisted though it was surprisingly easy to ignore. Well, at least it was at first. Within a short amount of time, he had managed to bag two mice and a squirrel. He quickly buried the last mouse as Firestar had taught him a few days ago "Because this way, you don't have to worry about losing your prey with your-erm- shall we say flying lessons?" The leader had purred while poorly concealing a smirk. Jerk.

His task done, he continued on before suddenly noticing that he was being watched from the top of the fence. Before he could react, a familiar figure leapt down gracefully.

"Max!" Princess rushed up to him and began to fret over him. "Are you alright? I've been so worried!"

"Umm..."

"Now, I know these Starclan cats have a mission or whatever for you, but this is ridiculous!"

"Uh..."

"Just think, you know Bree must be so worried! She's come by a couple times looking for you!"

"Princess! Enough!" A third figure emerged from the trees. Firestar did not look pleased. Great. "Starclan will make it clear when Arrow- I mean Max- can come home. For now, he stays with us."

At her worried look, he softened his tone. "He's doing fine. He'll be back in no time."

Turning around, he mewed "Come on, Max, you need to-" He was cut off by a sharp object impaling the ground between the three cats. Whirling around, Arrowpaw got a full view of his life long nuisance aiming an arrow at them. His vision grew red as rage blinded him.

"Princess, get inside! Firestar, run!" Without thinking, he launched himself at Ed, only wanting to hurt the damn bastard. However, before he got very far, something grabbed him by his scruff and the next thing he knew, he was back amongst the trees sitting on his rump, dumbfounded, with a panting Firestar looming over him.

Dammit.

"Now tell me." Firestar mewed, deceptively calm, once he had caught his breath. If he had still been human, Arrowpaw would have been sweating bullets. "What is one of the most important traits for a warrior to have?"

"Umm...being brave?" He tried weakly.

"True. But there is another very valuable trait." Here, the ginger tom raised a paw, claws still sheathed. "That is NOT LOSING YOUR HEAD IN A FIGHT!" He hissed, whacking the poor apprentice over the head.

"Ow..."

"You would have had more than a bruised head to worry about if I hadn't been there. Honestly, what were you thinking or were you thinking at all?"

The rage suddenly returned. "I was thinking that maybe I wanted to keep that j*****s from hurting you guys the way he has come after me, EVERY SINGLE DAY OF MY LIFE!" He yowled. Silence reigned as the larger tom regarded him thoughtfully.

"I can understand that. But that still doesn't change the fact that you nearly died today." He paused. "Come, let's get your freshkill and head back to camp."

"Wait!" The older cat stopped. "Did Princess make it out?"

"Yes, I saw her go back inside."

"Oh, ok then."

* * *

Back at camp, the other cats praised him for the amount of freshkill he contributed. He only nodded dumbly, still in shock over what happened. He had nearly forgotten about Ed, but it seemed he was still trouble even when they weren't the same species.

"Arrowpaw!" Graystripe gestured him over from the high rock. "Firestar wants to discuss what happened during your assessment today. Come with me."

He followed the deputy into the leader's den, the moss curtain tickling the former human as he passed through. Inside he found not only Firestar but also Cinderpelt and Sandstorm.

Firestar didn't waste anytime. "Max" using his human name to capture his full attention "What can you tell us about that twoleg today that tried to kill us?"

* * *

Cliffy! I will continue this as soon as I can!


	9. Chapter 8

I LIVE! Well, sorta. I had a day off from rotations so I spent a little time working on a new chapter for the sake of mental health.

Firestar: She needed it. She's already insane, we can't afford to have her lose it even more. It could be dangerous.

Me: I'm going to remember that. Besides, wait until you read what happens next before evaluating how crazy I am.

Sandstorm: Londonvetgirl25 does not own any characters in Warriors which belong to Erin Hunter- she only owns the three twolegs shown here, an unholy amount of twoleg debt and a desperate desire to survive veterinary school.

Me:...That was an unfortunately accurate summary of my poverty. Onto the story!

* * *

Well. Talk about not beating around the bush. Startled by the suddenness of the question, Arrowpaw could only blink stupidly at the ginger tom. Making an impatient sound, Firestar flicked his tail irritably and repeated himself.

"Arrowpaw, tell us about that twoleg. Who is he and what does he want?" He knew he should be more patient with the former twoleg but he was just too worried about the danger presented to the clan.

"What does he want?" The young tom chuckled grimly. "That's easy. Ed's probably doing this for the hell of it." At the questioning look from the surrounding cats, he elaborated, "He's shooting cats for fun."

The hissing and yowls that resulted from this answer could have awoken the whole forest. Arrowpaw found himself cowering back at Sandstorm and Graystripe began to hiss insults about twolegs and Firestar, though silent, looked…less than pleased. More like furious. As in at least ten times as mad as he had been earlier that day. Only Cinderpelt looked calm.

When the others had settled, she quietly asked. "Who is he, Arrowpaw? I get the feeling he is no friend to you." While the others, mainly Graystripe, looked startled, he nodded.

"I've known Ed for years now. It's a long story."

"Let's hear it then." Firestar ordered. "We need to know more about this threat."

"Well, I'll start off by saying that I am no friend of Ed's. In fact—"

"LIAR!"

Startled, everyone looked at the den entrance to see Dustpelt snarling.

"Obviously he's your friend! If you know him then obviously you're friends! All twolegs are the same- vile, vicious and greedy. I bet you even shoot cats with him you dirty—"

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?" Arrowpaw roared. Having stunned Dustpelt into silence, he found that he couldn't stop what he had started. Years of rage and frustration poured out of him.

"HAVE YOU EVER HAD TO DEAL WITH SOMEONE WHO SHOVES YOUR HEAD DOWN A TOILET EVERYDAY? STEALS YOUR HOMEWORK TO CHEAT OFF OF? BEAT YOU TO A PULP ON A WEEKLY BASIS?"

The lack of comprehension on the other cats' faces normally would have made him laugh but now, for some reason, it just made him angrier.

"HAVE YOU HAD TO WATCH THAT SAME JERK THREATEN YOUR SISTER AND GIRLFRIEND ON A REGULAR BASIS? FOR THE SOLE REASON THAT THEY WON'T DATE HIM? NO? BUT NO ONE CARES BECAUSE HE'S MISTER POPULAR—"

Firestar intervened, "Enough! Dustpelt—" But before he could finish, the silver tom tore past the brown cat into the night.

Dustpelt snorted and turned back to face the others, only to find Sandstorm in his face snarling. "You idiot!" She growled. She then shoved past him to follow the young tom. Seeing Firestar looking no happier than his mate, Dustpelt found himself gulping.

* * *

As a silver blur came shooting out of the leader's den, a white shadow watched silently. He had been watching the whole time and was not quite sure to make of this tom, this twoleg who knew his mother. He had to know more. So, pressing his nose against the fur of his ginger and white mate, he quietly followed the former twoleg and his tan shadow into the night.

* * *

Arrowpaw, didn't stop, couldn't stop, running. He didn't know whether his flight was due to embarrassment, fear, shame or some mixture of them all. He didn't stop for a long while and he didn't stop voluntarily.

WHAM! Blinded by his anger, he ran straight into a hard surface. With a start, he found himself at the fence of his twoleg home. No, his _real_ home. Shame burned within him. Like a child he had run away like a damned coward, like a—

"Hey!" Turning around, he found Sandstorm surveying him, her expression warring between annoyance and pity. "What happened back there? We still need answers—"

"Really, what else do you need to know? He is a complete and utter git who enjoys other people's misery." Arrowpaw growled.

"But you can't just run away, you—" She was cut off by sounds coming from the house. Arrowpaw looked startled.

"Is that—?" He wriggled his way through a gap in the fence and sprinted towards the house. Ignoring the two thuds behind him, he made his way to the kitchen window sill and could only stare.

"Arrowpaw! Get back here! What do you—" But looking in, Sandstorm stopped short. And she could only stare. Unaware of a third cat joining them, the cats just stared.

* * *

One week. One week of having a sibling missing. One week…could be a surprisingly long time. Mara couldn't believe that this whole week had lasted longer than her whole first year of vet school. Instead of spending the first week of her summer break in the middle of her final year doing absolutely nothing, she spent it fretting and searching.

She searched their home, their neighborhood, everywhere really after coming home to an empty house and a sobbing Bree. She was currently going through his computer (after figuring out his passwords) and scanned for any clue that he may have planned to go somewhere. But all she found was nothing. He had simply vanished. The police had been called but the bored officer who responded simply brushed her call off and told her to wait over the weekend, then call back.

What was she going to tell her parents? She hadn't been able to reach them as their cell phone plans didn't cover European travel, but they were sure to email or Facetime sooner or later. But first, if she couldn't find her brother, then she could at least help his girlfriend.

Bree Peterson was the exact opposite of her brother- bold, bright and even reckless. With her long red hair and green eyes, she could have her pick of men, but she stuck with her brother like bright shadow. She honestly wasn't sure why, but she was grateful. Max needed someone to pull him out of his shell, even if the girl's bubbly personality sometimes annoyed her. Mara spent most of her time with her brother nagging him for some reason or other and was generally annoyed with him- but now that he was gone, everything had different.

Shaking her head, Mara brushed her light brown hair out of her eyes (hazel unlike everyone else in their family) and left her brother's room. In the kitchen, she found Bree with puffy eyes, frantically scrolling through her phone. She also noticed Princess on the nearby couch. Did she also look fretful or was that just her over-imagining things?

"What are you doing?" Mara asked, sitting across from the red-head at the kitchen table. Bree sniffled.

"I was going through my phone to see if Max sent any messages—" Mara cut her off by simply holding up Max's phone which she had found on his dresser. Bree teared up and started bawling. Overwhelmed, Mara simply stared for a moment then sighed. She got up and went to the wine rack, pulling out a cheap bottle of red wine from the bottom shelf then brought it to the table with two glasses.

Bree stopped sniffling when a wine glass was set in front of her. "But I'm underage…"

"And I'm still in school. But right now, we're both tired and scared. What we need to do is take a step back and a deep breath because running around in a panic isn't going to help Max. Normally I wouldn't promote alcohol to help with that but right now it's not a terrible option" she hoped "so we'll each have a _single_ glass and spend an hour focusing on anything else, then go to bed and get a good night's sleep so that first thing in the morning, we can be fresh to look for Max."

With her monologue finished, she firmly slid the full glass to the 17-year old and took the other for herself. She noted that may have been the longest she had ranted in all her 26 years. Studying the red-head, she asked, "So…what do you want to do when you graduate high school?"

"Well, I love singing and would love to do it as a career but I'm not sure if I'd be good enough. I suppose I'll go to college and find my way from there. Was that how it was for you?"

Mara twirled her glass thoughtfully. "Not exactly…I always wanted to do something medically related…But whether it was human medicine or animal didn't come into play until I started getting experience while I was in college."

Both girls sipped their wine. Unfortunately, Mara hadn't thought about the fact that both hadn't had anything to eat beforehand. Due to their tipsiness, neither one noticed the sparkles forming around their feet, nor the three cats staring through the window.

Outside, Arrowpaw was in shock. His sister and girlfriend, who had only met a few times, were _drinking_! _Illegally_! Since when?! He continued to watch, jaw slack, until he heard a male voice ask.

"Who are they?"

"That's my sister with the brown hair and my girlfriend with the red hair." He answered absently. But then he whirled around to see who the new cat was, stopping short when he couldn't come up with a name.

"Cloudtail! What are you doing here?" Sandstorm snapped. The white cat shrugged. "I got curious and followed. What else is there to know?" He sniffed haughtily. Sandstorm looked like she was about to spit fire at his tone but then her attention was grabbed by a scent floating through the open window.

"Spottedleaf!"

"Uh…who?" Sandstorm gestured towards the girls, and Arrowpaw felt his jaw drop to the ground upon seeing a semi-transparent tortoiseshell weaving her way, unnoticed, around the girls' feet. She momentarily paused, looking at the window and giving the cats a sly wink before vanishing. But the sparkles didn't go with her and they all heard a light-hearted purr as the sparkles began to circle the twolegs. It got even more interesting when both females began to hiccup.

* * *

Firestar: ...I'm really not sure if I like where you are going with this. Even if it is a good cliffhanger.

Me: Sorry. Suck it up buttercup.

Sandstorm: I told you it was too early to tell how crazy she is!

Cloudtail: Let's just get the next chapter over with- it's probably going to be ridiculous anyway.

Me: OI!


End file.
